West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemish province of East Flanders to the east, the Walloon province of Hainaut in the south and the French department of Nord to the west. Its capital is Bruges (Brugge). Other important cities are Kortrijk in the south and Ostend (Oostende) on the coast, Roeselare and Ypres (Ieper). The province has an area of 3,197 km2 (1,234 sq mi) which is divided into eight administrative districts (arrondissementen) containing 64 municipalities. As of January 2024, West Flanders has a population of over 1.22 million.
The Yser is a river that rises in French Flanders, enters the Belgian province of West Flanders and flows through the Ganzepoot and into the North Sea at the town of Nieuwpoort.
Stuivekenskerke is a district of the town of Diksmuide, in the Belgian province of West Flanders. Located on the Yser river, until 1970 it was an independent municipality and then merged and became a sub-municipality of Diksmuide. Stuivekenskerke, built in a polder, has an area of 7.34 km2 and had 160 inhabitants in 2007.
Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde is a judicial arrondissement encompassing the bilingual—French and Dutch—Brussels-Capital Region, which coincides with the administrative arrondissement of Brussels-Capital and the surrounding Dutch-speaking area of Halle-Vilvoorde, which in turn coincides with the administrative arrondissement of Halle-Vilvoorde. Halle-Vilvoorde contains several municipalities with language facilities, i.e. municipalities where French-speaking people form a considerable part of the population and therefore have special language rights. The arrondissment is the location of a tribunal of first instance, enterprise tribunal and a labour tribunal.
The Arrondissement of Aalst is one of the six administrative arrondissements in the Province of East Flanders, Belgium. It forms the Judicial Arrondissement of Dendermonde together with the Arrondissements of Dendermonde and Sint-Niklaas.
The Arrondissement of Arlon is one of the five administrative arrondissements in the Walloon province of Luxembourg, Belgium. It is an administrative arrondissement not to be confused with the exctint judicial arrondissement of Arlon, also comprising the municipalities of the Arrondissement of Virton.
The Arrondissement of Veurne is one of the eight administrative arrondissements in the Province of West Flanders, Belgium. It is both an administrative and a judicial arrondissement. However, the Judicial Arrondissement of Veurne also comprises all municipalities in the Arrondissement of Diksmuide.
The Arrondissement of Virton is one of the five administrative arrondissements in the Walloon province of Luxembourg, Belgium.
The police tribunal is the traffic court and trial court which tries minor contraventions in the judicial system of Belgium. It is the lowest Belgian court with criminal jurisdiction. There is a police tribunal for each judicial arrondissement ("district"), except for Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, where there are multiple police tribunals due to the area's sensitive linguistic situation. Most of them hear cases in multiple seats per arrondissement. As of 2018, there are 15 police tribunals in total, who hear cases in 38 seats. Further below, an overview is provided of all seats of the police tribunal per judicial arrondissement.
Westhoek or Maritime Flanders is a region in Belgium and France and includes the following areas:
Boezinge is a village in the municipality of Ypres in the Belgian province of West Flanders. Boezinge can be reached via the N369 road in the direction of Diksmuide. It was an independent municipality until 1977.
Houtem is a village in the municipality of Veurne in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The village is located near the French border. Until 1977, Houtem was an independent municipality. During World War I, it was home to the Headquarters of the Belgian Army.
Legislative elections were held in Belgium in June and July 1884, for partial Chamber and full Senate elections respectively. Voter turnout was 79.1% in the Chamber of Representatives elections, although only 69,276 people were eligible to vote.
Fort Knokke or Fort de Cnocke or Fort de la Knocque or Fort de Knocke was an important fortification that defended western Flanders from the 1580s until it was demolished in the 1780s. During its 200 year history, the place was held by the Spanish Empire, Kingdom of France, Habsburg Austria and the Dutch Republic. The existing defenses were improved in 1678 by the famous military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. The fort was attacked by the Grand Alliance in 1695 during the Nine Years' War but the French garrison successfully held out. It was captured from the French by a ruse in 1712 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Control of the fort and other strong places in the Austrian Netherlands was a key feature of the so-called Barrier Treaty in 1713. The French captured the fort after a two-month siege in 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession. Emperor Joseph II had the citadel demolished in 1781. The site is on the Yser River about 8 kilometres (5 mi) southwest of Diksmuide, Belgium.
Hendrik Geeraert was a Belgian folk hero who, during the interwar period, came to symbolize the Belgian resistance movement against the German forces in World War I. He became famous among Belgian soldiers in 1914 after the Battle of the Yser where he, serving as a Nieuwpoort skipper, opened the sluices of the Yser River, flooding the polders and bringing the German advance to a halt.
The Ganzepoot is a series of locks and spillways in the inner port of Nieuwpoort, Belgium which connect one river, three water channels and two canals with the mouth of the Yser River and the maritime port. The spillways control the level of the two channels and the drainage of the polders.
Veurne-Diksmuide-Ostend-Ypres was a constituency used to elect members of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives between 1995 and 2003.
Veurne-Diksmuide-Ostend was a constituency used to elect a single member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives between 1900 and 1991.
Veurne-Diksmuide-Ostend-Ypres was a constituency used to elect members of the Flemish Parliament between 1995 and 2003.
Christian Verougstraete (born 11 September 1950 is a Belgian politician who served on the Flemish Parliament from 1995 to 2014.
Belgium 
Flanders 
West Flanders 
